Cold Flames
by SoyBean39
Summary: When Sawyer's birthday arrives, so does her father, and piles of new information. She must journey to Camp Half-Blood and unite with her own kind: demigods. Friends, lovers and enemies are made. Unknowingly, she arrives merely a week after the great battle with Gaea. Before, she had no troubles, but now everything is about to go downhill.
1. I'm Hated As Soon As I Enter The Camp

I don't own anything but Sawyer. Rick Riordan owns the rest.

Finally, I saw it. After a week of nothing but fighting monsters and eating dried

fruit, I found it: Camp Half-Blood. All I saw was a hill a couple hundred meters away, but

my gut told me I was at the right place. Not too shabby for a girl who easily gets lost in

the mall.

I looked behind me, I wasn't being followed so I took my time climbing the steep

hill. Sweat formed on my forehead and I breathed hard. After working my butt off non-stop

for an entire week, no way in Tartarus would I let some hill stop me from reaching my

destination.

I reached the top and took a breather, leaning on a lonesome pine tree. I coughed a

few times, then grinned. Camp Half-Blood, here I come baby! My smile faltered as I looked

down from the hill. There was nothing there. It was just a large valley filled with grass,

green as far as the eye could see. It didn't even make sense: it was January! Where was

the snow?

"Are you kidding me?" I screamed. I turned to the pine tree and began cursing and

kicking at it. Seconds later I turned to the valley.

"I HATE the colour green!" I yelled and ran forwards down the hill. I only realized

how horrible the idea was after my feet tripped over one another and I started rolling

down the hill. I landed with a 'thud' in a big mud puddle. I groaned as I got up.

Everything hurt, especially my butt which I'd landed on. Clumsy little me should've known

I was going to fall. I warily took in my surroundings.

"What in the..." It was as if the valley had magically transformed as I'd rolled down

the hill. Where I'd only seen grass before was now inhabited. There were scattered

buildings- ancient Greek styled, strawberry fields and horse stables. To my far right I

saw cabins, each differently designed, in a 'U' shaped line. An arena that resembled the

Coliseum to an extreme was filled with lava and rock climbing walls and kids either sword

fighting each other, shooting arrows at targets or jabbing life-sized monster dummys. The

stables were, obviously, filled with horses. They were far away, but I was pretty sure I

saw wings on a few. Next to a big, beautifully blue lake were rows and rows of strawberry

plants with people darting inbetween them that seemed to be wearing furry pants. Campers

were everywhere, doing as they pleased ans smiling brightly.

This was it. I actually did find Camp Half-Blood. Suddenly, I didn't feel so out-of-

place, I felt like I fit in. All my life I'd felt like I didn't belong, and of course I

knew why. I was a demigod. My mom had told me when I was six, and then gave me the

necklace my father had given to her. I grasped the bolt that dangled off the chain and

rolled it between my fingers. My father. He was Zeus, the Greek God of the skies. I

remembered the day I met him no less than a week ago...

It was January 9th, 2013, my fifteenth birthday. I didn't have a party or anything

because, well, I didn't have friends. At school, I was always the weird dyslexic girl who

sat in the corner and fiddled with things because of her ADHD. So, as usual, it was just

my mom and I. She cooked my favourite dinner: breakfast. I didn't like cake, so we never

had any. I wolfed down my chocolate chip pancakes, then went up to my room.

I looked out my window and sighed. Snow blanketed over everything in sight.

"Just another lonely night," I muttered.

"But I'm here, Sawyer." I spun around to see a man in my room. Under normal

circumstances I'd probably scream and grab the baseball bat I kept under my bed to hit him

upside the head, but there was something about this man. He seemed safe. He had a handsome

face, a beard as grey as storm clouds and eyes that changed from rainy grey, like mine, to

sky blue. He wore a navy pinstriped suit. The air around him smelled like ozone.

"Zeus," I breathed.

"Yes. It's me. Happy birthday." He handed me a small velvet box. I opened it and

gasped. It was plain bronze ring, engraved on it was a sentenced written in Greek.

"'With great power comes great responsibility'. Spiderman! How did you know that was

my favourite movie?" I grinned.

"Like father, like daughter," he winked, "but it does have meaning, so be sure to

remember the phrase. Put it on."

I put the ring on the middle finger of my right hand and admired it.

"Now," Zeus instructed, "clench your fist."

I did as I was told and my ring morphed into a large bronze sword in my hand. I

examined it. The blade was bronze like the ring, but the hilt was grey and shimmered like

storm clouds floating in the wind.

"Whoa!"

"It's celestial bronze. It kills monsters."

"Cool." I said, but I was too busy leveling out the sword.

"Now listen, Sawyer, this isn't for decoration. You'll be putting it to use, and the

sooner the better." He said. "Everything your mother has told you about me and my world is

true. People like you; demigods- they exist. They're at the camp. Living peacefully and

monster-free."

"But, I'm just fine here. I've never seen any monsters."

"Yes, I've kept quite the amount of mist around you and your mother. But I'm afraid

as soon as I leave they will arrive." He suddenly became rigid. "You have to go or else

the plan won't- I mean, or else they'll find you."

I crossed my arms. "I'm not leaving mom just because you did."

"You have to. As soon as I go, the monsters will come looking for you, and will kill

anything that gets in their way. Including your mother."

"Ugh. Whatever. I'll go, but I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for mom's sake."

I turned my back to him and looked out the window. "You can leave us now. Again. And just

so you know, giving me a fancy-dancy sword won't help me live. I'm a goner. In case you

care."

It was silent for few minutes, until a clap of thunder pierced my ears and I was

engulfed in a puff of smoke. I coughed and waved the smoke away. Zeus was gone, and I'd

probably never see him again. Good riddance, I thought. The only proof of his appearance

was a backpack on my bed embroided with a yellow lightening bolt. I inspected it and it

was filled with supplies like food, water, money and some weird chunks of stuff that

looked like maple fudge. A rolled up piece of paper was next to the bag. I picked it up

and unrolled it; it was a map of Long Island, New York. An 'x' marked a spot and

underneath it wrote 'Camp Half-Blood' in cursive.

"Camp Half-Blood, huh?" I muttered. "Here I come.

"Hey! Hey, you!" I snapped back to reality. Some girl was kneeling beside me. She

looked my age. She had pretty eyes the switched from blue to brown to green, lightly

tanned skin and choppy, braided auburn hair with a feather in it. She looked concerned.

"Hey, are you okay?" She held out a hand and I gladly took it. She held me steady

until I trusted my feet to hold my weight.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm Sawyer." We shook hands, but she pulled away quickly after I

accidentally shocked her and muttered 'ow'. "This is Camp Half-Blood...right?"

"I'm Piper, and yes, the one and only. Other than the Roman one, but that's beside

the point. You're a demigod?"

"Yep. Sawyer Bureta, daughter of Zeus at your service."

Piper gasped. "Zeus?" Come with me." She grabbed my hand and practically pulled me

along as she ran and I stumbled. My bare feet stepped on rocks as we ran and I cursed the

ogres who had been chasing me for stealing my shoes, and my backpack for that matter.

Piper brought me to a large pale blue and white house that looked rather odd in a

camp full of replicated Greek structures. We ran through several rooms and out the back

door to find a bulky, most likely Chinese, guy playing ping-pong with a younger girl with

coffee coloured skin and golden eyes. Beside them stood a blonde haired girl talking to a

centaur and a pudgy looking guy in a Hawaiian shirt. My mom had told me about centaurs, so

I tried not to seem shocked or weirded out or anything, but holy cow he was half horse!

"Chiron," Piper panted, "This is Sawyer she's a demigod and-"

"Shocker." The guy in the Hawaiian shirt said sarcastically.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Sawyer!" Chiron smiled.

"Thank you." I grinned.

"It seems as if though you had a tough time getting here." He said, eyeing me over.

I looked down at myself. Jeez, how had I not noticed this before? My t-shirt and

jeans had countless tears in them and I was covered in dirt. My feet were filthy, hidden

beneath layers of mud. However, I held my head high.

"Yeah, but I made it." Thank the Gods.

Chiron smiled warmly and Piper grasped his arm. "But Chiron, listen!" She turned to me. "Tell him who your godly parent is."

"Uh..." All eyes were on me. The bulky guy with the baby face stared at me. The girl

with golden eyes stared at me. The pudgy guy looked bored. Chiron stared at me. But, worst

of all, the blonde girl stared at me. She studied me so intensely, it was like I washer

science experiment and she was about to dissect me.

"Oh just spit it out." The Hawaiian shirt guy said.

"Dionysus, please" Chiron reasoned.

I looked at the ring on my right hand and confidently said, "Zeus."

Chiron looked as if though he was going over his grocery list in his head. Pudgy,

Blondey, Goldy and baby-face were staring at me in disbelief.

"I see," Chiron said scratching his chin, "Piper, you were right to bring her here.

Annabeth, Hazel, Frank accompany Piper in bringing Sawyer to get Percy, Jason and Leo. I

want everyone here."

They all nodded and I followed them out of the house. I began to feel sad. I thought

I'd found a place where I finally fit in, bu as soon as my dads name was mentioned

everyone treated me like I was an alien. Like I was back in London, Ontario. My dad just

has to ruin everything for me, doesn't he? I sighed and grasped my necklace.

"I'm Hazel," Goldy smiled at me as she fell into step with me. "daughter of Pluto.

That's Frank, son of Mars, Annabeth, daughter of Athena and Piper, daughter of Aphrodite."

"I'm Sawyer. Again. Did you just say Pluto and Mars? Aren't they Roman Gods?"

"There's both Roman and Greek demigods. We have a few Romans, but here it's mostly

Greek. The majority of the Roman demigods are at Camp Jupiter." She explained.

"That's cool!"

"I know how you feel, you know. But don't worry. Being a child of the Big Three

intimidates others, but they'll come around." She shrugged.

"Especially if you're the king of the Gods' kid. An angry Jupiter ain't too pretty,

so I wouldn't want to upset you!" Frank chimed in, grinning.

"Jason!" Piper yelled and ran ahead.

"There they are." I heard Annabeth mumble.

Three guys, maybe my age or a year older, were all kicking around a soccer ball by

the strawberry field. After seeing horses with wings, a centaur and kids sword fighting,

soccer seemed so down to Earth. They were all taller than me- heck, who isn't? One boy, I

assumed was Jason because Piper embraced him, had short blonde hair and eyes as blue as

the sky above us. Another guy had black hair with sea green eyes. The last guy was shorter

than everyone but Hazel and I. He look Mexican with his tan skin and curly black hair. We

made eye contact and his nose burst into flames. Then he patted it down like nothing

happened, and everyone ignored it like it was a normal thing to happen. Um, what?

"Percy," Annabeth breathed, the hugged the green eyed guy.

"Right." Piper cleared her throat. "Sawyer, this is Jason, Percy and Leo. Guys, this

is Sawyer."

The boys said hello, except for Leo who said something like 'umdah'.

"Percy is a son of Poseidon, Leo is a son of Hephaestus and Jason is a son of

Jupiter."

"Jupiter? Huh, that's funny." I said.

"How?" Jason asked.

"Well, Zeus is my dad and Jupiter is the Roman version of him, so it's kinda neat

how..." My voice faded as I saw the expressions on Jason and Percy's faces.

"That's not a good omen..." Percy muttered.

"Which is why Chiron wants us at the Big House." Annabeth said. "Let's go. Now."


	2. Shopping Trip Minus The Warship

After all the talk of me being a 'bad omen' because my dad was Zeus by an all-

powerful gang of kids I'd just met, a meeting was held. Things seemed pretty serious by

the looks on some of the camper's faces (cough, Percy and Jason, cough), so the meeting

should have been serious. Frankly, it was anything but serious because we were seated

around a Ping-Pong table. I mean, come on!

I sat in between Piper and Frank. The silence was eerie as we waited for Chiron to

enter the room. I glanced around the table and met Annabeth's cold stare. It was piercing

and I felt like she was looking into my soul; examining all my secrets, flaws and desires.

I quickly looked away, and was caught by Leo's gaze. He stared at me curiously, as if I

was a code he was trying to decipher. Or I still had mud on my face from the puddle I'd

fallen in on my entrance to camp. I crossed my hands on the table and stared at them, and

noticed the earth trapped underneath my fingernails. Jeez, everyone else had the decency

not to look at me even though I was an outsider. Give me a break for crying out loud! It

wasn't like I was suddenly growing a third leg right in front of them!

I heard the click-clacking of hooves and looked up to see Chiron making his way to

his spot at the head of the table. Percy and Jason flanked him at either side of the

table.

Unable to bear it any longer I asked, "Chiron, am I a bad omen?"

He sighed. "Let me explain why people could think you are a bad omen. It will help

you understand why. Truthfully, no. I don't think you are." I nodded as he patiently

continued.

"There was a Great Prophecy that was completed a few years ago involving the children

of the big three: Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, Nico di Angelo, son of Hades and Percy

here, a son of Poseidon. A year later, the Prophecy of Seven arose involving more children

of the big three, split between their Greek and Roman forms: Jason, son of Jupiter, Hazel,

daughter of Pluto and Percy, which was completed merely a week ago. Prophecies usually

occur when children of the big three enter the camp. So, you can see why some of us are

skeptical."

I let what he had said sink in. These people were right to be skeptical of me, heck,

I would be too. But I knew I wasn't going to spark some big, important prophecy because,

well, I just wasn't. Surely Zeus would've mentioned it to me...then again, we didn't

exactly get along that night. But, if their prophecy just ended, I doubted the Gods would

send me here to cause mayhem so soon. They couldn't be that big of bullies.

Chiron seemed to know what I was thinking. "Although, I don't think you're a bad

omen. We've had our fair share of prophecies lately and I sense there won't be any for a

while."

"I agree," Hazel said.

"Me too," said Percy. "I mean, there's literally nothing left to battle about. We've

done it all, so there's no way a prophecy is coming our way."

"I second that," Leo said raising his hand.

"Me too," Frank grinned.

"Dude, you can't second it, I already did. You have to third it or-"

"Shut up," Annabeth growled.

"Jeez, who peed in her cereal this morning?" Leo muttered and I stifled a laugh. I

didn't want Annabeth to chew off my head when I needed her approval. Percy nudged her and

they exchanged a look.

"Alright," she sighed. "I agree too. What Percy said makes sense." Piper nodded in

agreement and smiled warmly at me her eyes crinkling at the corners.

We all looked at Jason. His eyes, beautifully blue, were focused. He appeared to be

concentrating with immense effort, debating the possible futures that lay ahead inside his

head. He was uncertain, I knew it. Oh God. Wait- God? Gods?

"You're right, Percy," Jason said finally. "There couldn't possibly be any other

monster, giant or Titan or anything else we haven't already faced in battle. We'll be

fine." Everyone grinned at me, even Annabeth seemed to be in better spirits.

"It looks like you're good to go," Chiron said happily, then cocked his head as a

conch blew in the distance. "And just in time for dinner! Let's go!"

I followed everyone to the dinning pavilion. I hesitated at the entrance as they

sauntered in though. There were many people at so few tables which were set up just like

the cabins outside. This was like the first day of high school all over again. Where do I

sit? People were beginning to notice me standing in the doorway looking confused and

frightened.

"Sawyer, over here!" I heard Jason yell and saw him waving, sitting by himself at a

table farther back.

I walked over, getting strange looks and a few whistles because of my tattered

clothes, and sat down across from him. I pulled a leaf which had already withered and

browned from my forehead.

"I know," he said as women I could name - nymphs set trays down in front of us, "it's

weird, but you get used to it."

"Why are you sitting by yourself?" I wondered.

"You're assigned to tables by your godly parent," he explained. I looked around.

Percy sat with one other person at his table, the same with Hazel. Other tables overflowed

with campers.

"I guess being a kid of the big three really is rare."

"Very."

Suddenly, food appeared on my tray and my glass filled itself.

"What the…!?"

On Jason's plate was a pile of steaming ravioli. I looked down at my tray. On it was

a cheese omelette. I grabbed my cup and took a sip. Mmm, chocolate milk.

"You get exactly what you want, even if you don't know exactly what you want is."

Jason said, then stood up abruptly. "Follow me."

We got into a line that led up to a large fire pit where an intoxicating scent filled

the air and was carried with the breeze. Jason was in front of me, and once we reached the

pit I watched his actions. He scraped a portion of his meal and I heard him mutter,

"Thanks dad."

He turn to the side and I stood in front of the flames. It was my turn and I took my

fork and scraped in a bit of my omelette. Now what? Thank him? Heck no. Thanks for

nothing, I thought.

"Jason, are we related now?" I asked following him back to our table.

Jason paused for a moment, then grinned. " Yeah, we are."

The tender moment we shared ended as we both remembered the mouth-watering meals in front of us.

Once we finished eating, Jason led me to our cabin. It was in the center of the large

'U' of cabins. It radiated power. It was constructed reflecting the style of the ancient

Greeks like most of the other buildings in the camp. White pillars were on each side of

the entrance. The door frame and roof had intricate designs of different types of weather

carved into the stone.

As I climbed the steps of the porch, the sign above the door became legible. In red

paint, the first word in Greek and the second in Latin, read:

Zeus-Jupiter

Inside was even scarier and intimidating than the outside. Statues of both Zeus and

Jupiter were everywhere, on the ledges and lining the walls. They all looked angry and

judgemental. I was glad they were inside; any bird who pooped on one of them would

probably get blasted out of the sky.

Other than the statues, the room had two bunk beds across the room from each other with

two small dressers.

I sat down on an inhabited bottom bunk. It was freshly made bed and had mints on the

pillow like fancy hotels. The comforter was extremely soft, and appropriately designed

with storm clouds. Across from me was the other bunk bed. The top bunk was Jason's. I

could tell because there were many pictures of him. Most of them were taken with Piper,

but pictures of Leo and Percy were up there too. The bottom bunk was only a bare mattress

with one lonesome picture of Jason and a girl with short black hair pinned to the wall. I

wondered who she was.

"So," Jason walked into the room and climbed onto his top bunk,"How did your first day go?"

"Well, besides everyone hating me for the first twenty minutes, it

went swimmingly."

He laughed. "Tomorrow will be even better!"

"I hope you're right." I yawned and crawled under my sheets. "Night, Jason."

"Night, Sawyer."

I pulled the covers up over my head, not caring that I was still in my ratty

clothes, and let my exhaustion take over as I drifted asleep.

I woke up the next day around eight o'clock. Usually I was an early-riser, so

sleeping-in till eight was an accomplishment. I sat up, stretched and trudged over to

Jason who was reading on top of his bunk.

"Mornin'." He smiled.

"Hola!"

"I have a present for you." He said.

"Oh?"

"Ta da!" He sang as he handed me a folded pair of jeans and an orange t-shirt.

"You shouldn't have!" I joked. "Now, where are the showers?"

"Just go left when you leave the cabin. You'll see the building, it's kinda hard to

miss."

"Thanks...bro?"

Jason winked. "No prob, sis."

I reached the bathing house in less than five minutes. It was empty, so I quickly

undressed and hopped into a shower stall. The water felt nice against my skin as I washed

my hair and body. All the dirt washed away with the shampoo and soap suds down the drain.

Ahhh, that felt better. I couldn't believe I hadn't shower for an entire week! How did I

cope?

I turned the water off and hopped. I took a deep breath, my lungs filled with the

steam and bliss washed over me. I dried myself, and my curls. After I got dressed, I

looked around for my shoes. Crap! I'd forgotten that they were destroyed after my journey

to the camp. I'd have to make a mental note to ask Chiron where I could get some new ones.

Surprisingly, the jeans were exactly my size and the t-shirt had 'Camp Half-Blood'

written across the chest. Now I felt like I could fit in. Huh, who knew all I need was a

t-shirt? I tamed my hair as much as I could and went back to the cabin.

"Aw, Sawyer! Look at you in your camp t-shirt." Jason mocked in a high-pitched girly

voice.

I rolled my eyes but I couldn't help smiling. "Oh hush. Let's just

go get breakfast, Jasmine."

"After you, Tom."

"Oh! You so did not just go there." I said and pushed past him through the door.

We left the cabin laughing and began our trek back to the dinning hall.

"Hey, Leo!" Jason called as we passed the Hephaestus cabin.

"I'll meet you at the table!" Leo said to his siblings and jogged over to us. "Hey,

guys." He said grinning.

I smiled. "Hi, Leo."

He looked at me like I had a third eye or something. "You know my name?!"

"We met yesterday. C'mon, my memory isn't THAT bad."

He shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

"So, what are you up to today, Leo?" Jason asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just gonna work on a ship that doesn't any repairs whatsoever."

"Sounds like a blast."

"Not really, no."

I just stared ahead confused.

Unknowingly, we had reached the dinning pavilion.

"Well, see you later, Leo!" I waved, walking away from him and towards our table as

he waved back enthusiastically.

Breakfast was quick and afterwards Chiron pulled Jason and I aside.

"I'm rounding up everyone for a small meeting. Be at the big house as soon as you

finish."

We were the last to arrive. Chiron, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Hazel and Frank were

already seated around the ping-pong table. We quickly sat down and Chiron began.

"There's no need to worry, this isn't going to be long. The camp needs a few supplies

from a local mortal mall that Argus can't pick up on his own. Also, Sawyer is new and has

no clothing, so you'll be coming along, for, well… a shopping trip."

Confession: I loved shopping. I don't usually tell many people because it's so

stereotypically and girly. I mentally high-fived myself. Score! I needed shoes badly; I

was still walking around bare foot. Of course, I wouldn't get anything too expensive- wait

a hot second! I didn't want Chiron to spend the camps' money on me.

"Chiron, as nice of an offer that is, I couldn't spend the camps' money on myself."

"Actually, I received a letter from your father containing three hundred dollars. He

instructed me to give the money to you." He handed me an envelope filled with twenty

dollar bills. Three hundred smackeroonies? Oh, dad you shouldn't have! No...really. It was

convenient. Too convenient…. Jason and I exchanged a look. Zeus was a jerk; a heartless

one at that. Why in the world would he attempt to speak to one of his children, let alone

send them a wad of money.

"I guess I'm in then."

Frank raised his hand. "How are we getting there?"

"We have to take the Argo II!" Leo intervened. "It's been rusting away for way too

long. Poor Festus has been bored out of his mind!" He grinned madly.

"Leo, we don't need a warship to get groceries." Percy said as if they had already

had this conversation.

"Nor do we need to frighten any mortals. Who knows what the mist will show them."

Chiron reasoned frowning towards Leo.

Leo slouched back in his chair glumly. "We'd look pretty damn cool," he muttered.

"Argus will drive you." Chiron stated. "You'll leave in an hour.

Don't take too long."

And the meeting was adjourned.


	3. I Immasculate My Crush Embarrassingly

The drive to the nearest mall was excruciating. Literally. It was extremely crowded

inside the van, and to make matters worse, Argus drove like his wife was in labor and he

was driving her to the hospital (I doubted both seeing as the guy had eyes everywhere.

Creepy). I constantly fell into the people that I was smushed in between, which happened

to be Jason and Hazel. Both ignored me to talk to their 'partners'. I assumed Hazel and

Frank had a fling and was almost seventy-five percent sure that my precognitions were

correct. I had a knack for this sort of thing. So I let them be and tried to sit quietly

until we reached our destination.

The car ride wasn't as bad as I put it out to be; we reached the mall within a half

of an hour. We all hopped out and Argus remained in wait of our return. I shivered as the

cold wind bit my exposed skin. The camp was clouded with warm enchanted weather, so none

of us remembered that it was January and we would need coats when we left.

We quickly ran inside the front doors, stumbling and sliding along the ice that

covered the parking lot, and into the heated mall.

"Alright, here's the deal," Percy said as we gathered in front of the directory. "I'm

going to divide the list in two. Jason, Frank and I will look for half the items and

Annabeth, Hazel and Piper will look for the other half."

He handed a piece of the list to Annabeth, then turned to Leo and me. "Leo, you take

Sawyer to get, er, whatever she needs. We'll all rendezvous here in two hours tops. Got

it?" Everyone nodded in agreement and parted for their separate ways. Divide and conquer,

like true warriors I realized.

Leo held out his arm and grinned crookedly. "Shall we?"

I linked our arms together and smiled, trying not to flush too deeply. "We shall."

My shopping spree was successful. I bought a few pairs of pants and shorts, a pair of

red ankle Converse, socks, a bikini, a few books and toiletry items like a hair brush and

a tooth brush, toothpaste, etcetera. I didn't spend a lot, and made sure I had enough cash

left to buy more camp shirts from the camp's store.

Leo sighed in relief and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his

hand. "Oh man, I'm glad that's over."

"Oh shoot, Leo!" I exclaimed, I knew I had forgotten something. "I forgot to buy some

bras and underwear!"

Leo's cheeks turned red. "Uh..."

"Oh, just come," I said grabbing his hand and pulling him into the closest La Senza.

I grabbed a dozen bras and panties, a few lacy ones causing Leo to radiate immense

body heat (at least he didn't set the entire store on fire), and several sports bras.

Leo's faced stayed red until we left the store. I needed to point out to him that a few of

his hairs were on fire and he absently patted them out. As we walked, I gave Leo and

apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that."

"Being immasculated is like a daily thing for me, so no worries. I know how you could

make it up to me though."

"No, I will not model them for you, Leo."

He grinned wildly. "It was worth a shot."

I giggled. "Thanks for not running out screaming."

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Frank will be on my ass forever." He added seriously.

I bumped his shoulder with mine. "You can trust me to keep a secret."

He smiled at me, less crazily than usual. His warm brown eyes like kindle wood met my

rainy grey ones and my heart skipped a beat (more like 11 beats). His eyebrows scrunched

up and he looked away distracted to grab something from his tool belt which he always

wore.

He pulled out a cell phone. He blew to wood dust from the screen. "It's only twelve.

We've got an hour left."

"Want a milkshake? On me." My stomach was growling.

"Do you even have to ask?"

Leo snagged us a table in the overly crowded food court while I bought us chocolate

shakes from a shack. I hurried back to our table and we slurped the shakes down

appreciating the creamy froth that topped the whole thing off.

"So," I started, trying to spark conversation, "Hephaestus, huh?" I regarded Leo and

he suddenly became interested in his straw.

"Yep." He muttered, not looking at me.

"I think that's really cool." His eyes flitted up and into my gaze, so I continued.

"I envy what you guys can do. I'm, well, impaired when it comes to machines and

technology. I broke a toaster once. True story!"

He shook his head smiling. "You're crazy. I wish I could shoot lightening at anyone

who bugs me. All I have are hammers and stuff."

"Oh trust me, a hammer would do the trick."

He laughed. "Thanks for the milkshake."

"Anytime." I smiled warmly and got up to throw the empty cups in the trash.

I returned and raised a brow. "So, I thought we weren't allowed cell phones?"

"We weren't until recently. Yours truly did a little tinkering and created a chip to

put in the phones that repels monsters." He grinned smugly.

My mouth fell open. "No. Way. Was it hard?"

He scoffed. "Nothing's top hard for Leo Valdez. I replicated one for every camper."

"Wow Leo, you really are a mechanics whiz."

I could tell Leo was loving this topic by the way he grinned madly and stopped

fiddling with the napkin on the table that he had made into a boat, rotor and all. "You

don't know the half of it! I made the Argo II."

I gasped. "You built an entire warship?! Leo, it's official; you're my idol."

"Oh stop!" He grinned. "Actually, feel free to continue."

I stood and stretched. "We should probably go meet with the others now."

He grabbed my bags and smiled. "After you."

"Oh, by the way," Leo said as we dashed through the maze of a mall, "just stop by my

cabin when you want to get your phone."

"My phone?! Thank you so much, Leo!" I gushed.

"No worries." He smiled and we continued our trek to the meeting spot, and to the

others.

Percy pointed out as we reached the group, "Leo, you have brown stuff dripping off your

chin."

Leo wiped it quickly with the cuff of his shirt as we shared a smile.

After we'd returned to the camp, after the second crammed car ride of the day, I

immediately ran back to Cabin One to organize all my new items. Well, more like throw all

the clothes into drawers. I'm not a very neat person.

What to do, what to do, I thought. Jason was out with Piper, and I didn't have any

other friends (or someone else that I knew) to hang out with, except Leo which I supposed,

but he was probably building a robot army or something in the likes.

I sighed and flopped down on my bunk. Think Sawyer, think. I couldn't just lay here

for days because I didn't have friends, because then I wouldn't get friends. I sighed

again. Whatever, I'll just go get my phone from Leo. His robots will have to wait.

I tamed my messy brown curls as much as I could and left for the Hephaestus cabin.

The cabin look like a giant RV. Except it was super high-tech and made of metal. The

windows were slated over with bolted metal and the door looked like an entrance to a bank

vault.

I hesitated, then knocked twice. A small rectangle of metal slid open, and a pair of

hazel eyes stared at me curiously.

"Can I help you?" The boy behind the door questioned.

"Um, I came to see Leo." I said uncertainly.

The eyes widened. "Really?!"

A series of creaks, groans and whirls came from the door, and then it opened. A boy,

about eleven, looked me up and down and chuckled. "This should be good."

I didn't know whether to be offended, afraid or concerned.

He walked deeper within the cabin while I remained in the doorway unsure.

"C'mon tuts! Do you wanna see Leo, or what?" The boy called.

I was still unsure, but I entered the heap of metal. It was deserted. High-tech steel

bunks were folded against the wall. Each bunk had a digital control panel on the wall next

it with numbers, letters and blinking lights. A fire pole came down from the second floor

and there was a spiraling staircase that descended into a basement. Okay, this was a

shabby RV...how did it have a basement and a second floor? I didn't think I wanted to

know.

Every tool known to mankind, you name it, was hung up on the walls, as well as

swords, knives and other deadly weapons, and not to be forgotten, pokey sharp things that

I could easily trip into and kill myself. A large wooden workbench covered in screws,

nails, washers and various scraps of metal inhabited the majority of the room. Leo was

nowhere in sight.

"Cool, huh? I'm Reggie by the way, but you can call me anytime." Reggie winked and

grinned. Jeez, what a hormonal eleven year old.

I ignored his comment. "So, is Leo in the base-"

"Excuse me, Leo." Reggie pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

The device beeped and Leo's voice filled the cabin. "For the last time Reg, I will

not let you try your experiments on me! Last time I had two inch hairs growing out of my

nose for weeks!"

I burst out laughing, but covered my mouth quickly. "No, Leo," Reggie snickered, "I

was just letting you know your girlfriend's here."

"Girlfriend? I, uh, I'll be right up." Leo stuttered.

My cheeks blazed. Girlfriend?

After a few minutes of Reggie hitting on me, Leo raced up the spiral staircase and

stumbled in front of us. "Uh, hey, sorry about Reggie." He glared at the little boy. Looks

like he'll be using his hammer later I predicted.

"Don't worry. Let's just go, okay?" I grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs

and out of Reggie's mischievous stare.

"Use protection!" I heard Reggie yell from above us and blood rushed to my cheeks. I

felt Leo stiffen at my side and as he gripped our fingers tighter together. We got to the

bottom of the stairwell and I retracted my hand, rubbing my knuckles.

"Okay, let's go, chop, chop. Show me where the magic happens!"

Leo grinned. "Follow me."

I followed Leo through a long corridor with more vault-like doors which ran the walls

every five feet. Most doors were open and I peered into the dimly and sometimes blinding

light rooms. Each had a child of Hephaestus working away on whatever was in their hands.

The sound of drills buzzing, hammers pounding, smoke wheezing and gears turning filled my

ears and the scents of gasoline and oil filled my nostrils.

Leo's shop was at the very end of the hall. He stopped in front of the open door and

gestured for me to enter.

His workshop was a more cluttered version of the main room of the cabin. Blueprints

were pinned to the cork board walls almost like wallpaper, and metal contraptions filled

the shelves and floor space. Like if the floor was covered in Lego pieces, I had to watch

where I placed my feet.

"Wow." I breathed, taking it all in.

Leo nervously chewed his lip. "Sorry about the mess." Excuse my horrible pun, but Leo

looked hot doing that.

"No, it's cool. Don't tell me you made all of these?" I rotated my index finger.

He smirked. "Hell yeah, I did."

"What do they all do?" I eyed one of the small men that lined the selves.

"Those guys are my miniature army that help me listen in to 'secret' meetings, "he

smiled proudly but suddenly looked at me with horror in his realization. "You won't tell

anyone…Right? "

"Tell me what types of 'secret' conversations first." Let me tell you the truth, I

was curious.

"You know, the conversations campers have in the dark…Like, when Annabeth sneaks over

to the Poseidon cabin in the middle of the night, " he explained as the real purpose

became revealed.

"You're amazing." I said truthfully, still eyeing the metal men warily.

"Well," Leo sighed, "I do have incredibly good looks, a great sense of humor, a

rockin' body-"

"Okay, you can stop right there." I giggled.

Leo smiled crookedly and reached into the pocket of his tool belt.

"Here you go." He said and handed me a small rectangle.

"Leo! An iPhone! You're a gem, I could just bake you a hundred and six cakes right

now." I exclaimed excitedly.

He chuckled. "That's not all! Eyes closed, drum roll please."

I squeezed my eyes shut and beat my thighs rhythmically.

"Tada!" Leo sang and I opened my eyes to him holding an iPod and a laptop with

chargers for both and a goofy grin on his face.

"Leo!" I squealed. I set my phone down on the table. "Put those down."

"Okay..." He said placing everything on the table. "But why do- Ah!" He was cut off

by me tackling him in a bear hug. He was caught off-guard and he fell to the ground

backwards with me in his arms.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I chanted as I nuzzled my cheek against his chest.

He smelled like my most favorite scent in the world: burning wood, like in a fireplace. I

breathed in deeply letting the delicious scent wash over me.

"How many cakes do you owe me now?"

"Ahem." Behind us someone cleared their throat. Leo and I hopped up with cheeks the

shade of strawberries.

"Yes, Nyssa?" Leo questioned.

"Sorry to interrupt," Nyssa raised a thin, black brow. She had long, dark hair

beneath a bandanna with skulls patterned on the grey fabric. She was pretty, but obviously

tougher than nails.

"We weren't-" Leo began.

"Save it." She intercepted. "I was just letting you know it's time for dinner."

She turned and left in a blur of black and gray. Leo looked at me and shrugged.

"Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." I said.

"More like every morning."

I gathered all my new things into my arms. "C'mon. We'd better get going. Come with

me to drop this lovely pile of shit into my cabin before chow-time?"

"Sure." Leo said standing up and leaning down to pick up a now unrecognizable clump

of metal form the floor. Looking over his shoulder at me, he tossed it aside and led me

out the door.

We walked over to my cabin with our arms full of electronics.

"You can just put them on my bunk." I instructed Leo as we entered the bedroom.

He looked over at Jason's bunk. "Where's Sparky?"

I shrugged. "With Piper, I guess."

"So it's just us in here?"

"Yeah, why does it matter?" I asked confused.

Leo smirked at me (which was becoming a regularity now), then cleared his throat

jokingly. "As it states on page one hundred and seven, line thirteen in the Demigod Code

of Conduct edition one, volume two: Two campers of different godly descent aren't to be

left alone in a cabin."

My eyes widened. "Are you serious?" My eyes began darting to every corner and crevice

that filled the room. "Do they have cameras?"

Leo snickered. "Relax. There's no cameras. We're safe."

I sighed in relief. "Thank the gods. It would be embarrassing to be in trouble

already. I've only been here for two days!"

"Pssh, it's nothing." Leo waved his hand. "I've been in trouble everyday I've been

here."

I shook my head and grinned. "What am I going to do with you, Leo Valdez?"

"Well, you could put up with my incredibly good looks, great sense of-"

"Oh gods, not again. I'm out." I walked out of the cabin. Leo caught up with me, and

we walked to the mess hall together.


	4. Channing Tatum Saves Me From Drowning

That night went by fast, and before I knew it, it was morning. Something about this

crazy yet familiar camp must've made time go by quickly because the afternoon hit me like

a brick. After a breakfast of strawberry waffles, I'd spent the morning practicing my

sword fighting with Percy and after lunch I returned to my cabin all hot and sweaty.

Changing into my green bikini I'd purchased yesterday and some shorts, I grabbed one

of the books I'd bought and sat on a beach chair on Cabin One's porch.

I basked in the sun as I read through the novel. It was Pet Cemetery by Stephen King

and it scared the bejesus out of me. Even though I felt my skin burning, I couldn't put

down the book. I probably looked like an over-cooked piece of chicken but I couldn't stop

reading. The book just kept getting scarier and the suspense grew as I read on. As I

reached a particularly suspenseful part, the sound of someone clearing their throat made

me scream and tip my chair over.

"Sorry," Percy smiled sheepishly as he reached for my hand to pull me up. "We're all

going swimming. I just wanted to know if you wanted to come."

"Oh, yeah, for sure!" I said. Absently placing down my book on the porch while dog-

tagging my page, I stretched. "Let's go," I said becoming more and more excited as I

walked over to him.

"So, who's coming?" I asked as we walked, eyeing him from the corner of my eye.

"The whole gang." Percy said smiling, making me think of Fred from Scooby Doo. "Me,

Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank and Hazel."

I sighed and blew a strand of hair out of my eyes. At least I had two friends; Leo

and my brother. "Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel and I, you mean" I said

correcting him under my breath.

Percy noticed my inner and outer frown. "Look, Sawyer. I know things are rough for

you right now; you don't have many friends here or your mom any more. We've all been where

you are now, and trust me, it gets better."

I bumped him lightly with my shoulder. "Thanks Percy."

"No problem," he smiled warmly and bumped me back. "Stick with me kid, you'll go

places."

I giggled. "Like the lake for instance?"

"Exactly." Percy laughed.

Our conversation was short, as was the walk to the lake. Hazel and Piper splashed

around in the water while Annabeth lounged on the sand of the shore next to a line of

towels with ear buds blocking out the world around her. Frank, Leo and Jason were coming

up with crazy positions to go down the water slide.

"Hey, Sawyer, you made it!" Jason called from the top of the slide. I waved and they

all came down the stairs built into the steep hill that held up the slide to greet me.

Jason went over to a vacant towel and brought back a bottle. "Sunscreen?"

I snatched the bottle. "Please. I'm burning like bacon."

Leo licked his index finger and tapped his hip with it making a sizzling noise.

"Sssss."

I squirted the lotion on my hands and rubbed my arms, legs, face and stomach quickly

covering the visible skin. "Could one of you guys do my back please?"

Jason began to speak but Leo interrupted. "I got it."

Leo rubbed the sunscreen onto my shoulders and back while Jason observed silently

with narrowed eyes.

I smiled at Leo and thought of an old man eating a pickle to keep the blush off of my

cheeks. "Thank you."

He just nodded, cheeks slightly pink. They could be burnt, trying to convince myself.

I pulled off my shorts, leaving me in my bathing suit. To my surprise, Piper and

Hazel called me into the water with them. I rushed over to join them. We floated and

chatted until our skin resembled prunes. Annabeth remained on the shore tanning and Frank

was fishing off the dock.

"Hey ladies!" Percy called from the top of the slide. "Who wants to go down the slide

on an extra special ride?"

We jogged up the steps to the excited boys.

Hazel raised a brow. "What makes it so special?"

"Well, everybody's favourite guy, who happens to be Poseidon's kid, is going to use

his powers to shoot us down like bullets." Leo grinned wickedly and winked casually.

"Is it safe?" Hazel countered.

Everybody looked at Percy. "Um, yeah, for the most part. I think." He shrugged.

"What the hell, I'll do it!" I said positioning myself in the opening of the slide. I

squirmed until I was comfortable. "Tell me when."

Percy rubbed his hands together and closed his eyes, breathing in and out deeply.

"3...2...1!"

I shot down the slide, as Leo said, like a bullet. I twisted and turned down the

turquoise semi-tube, water helping me slide faster and faster. Finally, I shot out of the

mouth, but not into the lake. I went airborne. I soared high above the shimmering water. I

craned my head around and everyone looking more and more ant-like by the second.

At last, I plunged into the water, far beyond the shore where I was before. I treaded

water and waved at my stunned and stunned comrades at the top of the slide.

"Don't worry, I'm f-" I attempted to yell, but my words were cut short by water

filling my lungs as I was pulled under the surface. Something slimy gripped my ankle and

yanked me deeper and deeper under the lake. I needed air was all I thought, badly, but all

I saw was the deep blue water, turning more and more green and black by the second. It

surrounding me as I tried to escape its clutches. Black dots blocked my already blurry

vision. I couldn't take it much longer. I couldn't breathe. My heartbeat pounded in my

head like someone was playing the drums inside my skull. And finally, I blacked out,

letting go of the pain.

I was on a beach. I stood on the shore admiring the crystal clear waves. The sand was

soft between my toes and the warm ocean breeze smelled of salt. I was extremely at ease,

and extremely naked. But that wasn't the weirdest part; I was hand in hand with Channing

Tatum.

Channing turned to me and smiled. His arms snaked around my waist and he whispered,

"jump".

I did as he said and was encircled in his arms, life was good. Even after I'd jumped

I kept lifting into the air. No, what was this? I wanted to stay. With Mr. I'm-Super-Di-

Duper-Hot-Tatum.

"Sawyer! Come back!" Channing pleaded.

"I'm trying! Channing, help me!" I yelled, but it was no use. I kept ascending until

Channing was out of sight and the clouds enveloped me.

My eyes flew open and I began heaving in breaths like oxygen was becoming scarce. I

think I breathed in too much (if that was even possible) because I started coughing

rapidly.

Percy was leaning over me, and he looked concerned. I sat up and my coughing ceased.

Percy took my hand and helped me stand.

"Oh, Sawyer! Thank the gods." said a relieved guy as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Channing?" I questioned still dazed, and turned around to see Jason looking at me

confused.

"Chan- who? Never mind. Are you alright?"

All at once my last memories blasted their way to the front of my mind. "No, Jason!

Something tried to drown me. It was slimy and gross and ugh." I shivered.

"Well, you're fine now." Jason said more to reassure himself than me and rubbed my

shoulders soothingly. I turned around to face the others. Hazel and Leo looked at me

worriedly while Annabeth paced, and Piper stood with Frank a little father back staring

into his eyes chanting "you will not move" repeatedly.

Jason released me and Hazel and Percy hugged me. Annabeth smiled and patted my

shoulder. Leo wordlessly embraced my tighter than the others, and I had a feeling

something unspoken was said between us.

"It was Frank." Annabeth said, studying my reaction.

I blinked. "Frank did this? That makes absolutely no sense! He was fishing..."

"It's a long story, but he can transform into any animal he chooses thanks to a gift

bestowed upon his ancestors. And when Percy found you, there was an eel wrapped around you

that just so happened to be Frank." She explained.

"But why would he try to kill me?"

"Let's ask." Percy said.

"Okay, Pipes, as soon as we have a good grip on Frank, you can stop the charmspeak."

Jason instructed as he and Percy each grabbed one of Frank's bulky arms. "Okay, now!"

Piper withdrew. Frank hissed loudly, and his glazed over eyes darted to each of our

faces.

"Release me!" He growled.

Leo crossed his arms and snorted. "Yeah, right. Dude, you just tried to kill Sawyer."

Frank laughed deeply and slowly. His expression was menacingly dark that it felt like

someone just dumped a pile of snow onto my heart and a cold wind blew through my veins. I

noticed my hands shaking and quickly hid them behind my back.

"F-Frank..." Hazel said, "Is that you?"

"Ha, of course not Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. I am one of the many eidolons

hidden within this camp." Frank sneered. "I may not have killed the daughter of Zeus, but

the others will fulfill their missions."

"Tell us where they are!" Jason threatened. "Or else we'll...we'll..."

"You're helpless, demigod. You can't stop us. And we won't stop until we rid the

world of your kind. This camp is merely the beginning."

Suddenly Frank's body began thrashing around and Jason and Percy struggled to hold

him down. He froze and hung his head for a split second, then lifted his head slowly to

reveal his dazed expression.

He blinked. "Hey guys. Um, is everything okay?"


	5. Dessert Threatens To Kill Us

"No, everything is most definitely NOT okay!" Leo said throwing up his arms.

"Frank, do you remember anything?" Hazel asked timidly.

"No..." Frank replied scrunching up his thick brows in confusion. "Um, can you guys let me go?"

Percy and Jason released him and he rubbed his forearms where there were red marks. Note to self: no Percy, Sawyer, Jason sandwiches. Ever.

"He doesn't remember anything. Kinda like when I was possessed at Camp Jupiter." Leo shuddered. "Do you think he's got an eidolon in him?"

"An eidolon?" Frank asked becoming paler. "Oh man, what did I do?"

Everybody became interested in their feet suddenly. None of us wanted to break the news to the poor guy.

Finally, Piper said, "You tried to kill Sawyer."

Franks face paled even further and shock, disbelief and pain flickered across it. "Sawyer, I... I'm so sorry."

I shrugged stiffly, trying to look nonchalant. "It wasn't you Frank." I took a shaky breath. "Don't worry."

Not buying it, Frank asked, "What did I do exactly?"

I couldn't tell him. I just couldn't. If anyone said anymore, both of us would shatter.

"You tried to drown her." Piper looked at him apologetically.

If it was even possible, Frank's face turned ghost white. He nodded grimly and walked towards the cabins, leaving the rest of us to stare at his

back as he climbed over the hill.

"I better follow him." Hazel said. She ran for the hill, her hair tangled behind her in the breeze

"We need to tell Chiron." Annabeth stated. "Come on."

Everyone jogged ahead, but I didn't move.

"Hey, everything's okay, right?" Jason asked softly, noticing my stationary state.

I shook my head. "Oh yeah, everything's fine. I'm just gonna head back to the cabin, maybe grab a nap."

Jason let out a large breath. "Alright, be careful. It's getting dark; it's almost dinner. Want me to wake you up for food?"

Jason made me feel like a child again through all of his concern. Next thing I knew he would be giving me a warm bottle of milk and feeding me

liquefied carrots. I tried to smile at him, somehow I succeeded. "No thanks, I just need some sleep."

Jason seem to believe that I was fine and revealed his pearly whites through a wide grin. "Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

He ran off to catch up with the others and I was finally alone to process today's events. First, Leo and I may or may not have something going

on between us. I didn't really know much when it came to boys, so I didn't dwell on this. I pushed my curiosity and unknown feelings aside and

moved on to the next event. Second, I was attacked by Frank, but I also wasn't attacked by Frank. An eidolon- an ancient Greek spirit that can

enter and control bodies of the living - had got inside of him and attempted to kill me. It was scary how an eidolon could change your friend to a foe

faster than you could say 'I hate liquefied carrots'. The thought sent shivers up my spine. What if there were more in the camp? Hidden within

campers without them knowing? And third, (beware this may seem overly dramatic after those two top-notch events), I had friends! Friends who

genuinely cared for me. Each one had been seriously concerned about me, even Annabeth who I thought disliked me.

With that last happy thought I stumbled into my cabin, kicked off my shoes, jumped under the covers and drifted asleep.

For the first time in ages, I was dreaming. I was inside the living room of the Big House. I was seated at the back of a large huddle of campers

who stared ahead at Chiron who sat in his wheelchair next to the fireplace but still looked powerful. The room was pitch black other than the light

glowing off the lit fireplace, making ghostly shadows on everyone's faces.

Chiron cleared his throat and everyone went silent. "They know." He said in a deep voice that wasn't his own.

Gasps broke out in the group. "What- How?" Said a camper I didn't recognize.

"Aeschylus. He failed his mission of killing the newest daughter of Zeus, and was caught by Perseus Jackson and his group of demigods. He told

them our plan and they came running to me."

"How dare he!" A girl at the front of the clutter snarled with a voice that probably belonged to the Wicked Witch of the West.

"Jeopardizing the plan like that- I will kill him!"

"No need, Hagnes." Chiron sneered. "He's been... dealt with."

A boy next to me stood and I froze. Obviously I was in the wrong place right now. I tried to shrink away and disappear within the shadows. "But

the retched demigods still know of our plan. What do we do, Kake?"

The flames behind Chiron, or should I say 'Kake', danced and crackled. He grinned menacingly and the shadows of the fire caused him to look

downright evil. His cold stare met my wide eyes and he spoke with a chilling voice that would've scared zombies back into their graves. "We kill

them. Starting with Ms. Bureta, over here."

The eidolon controlled campers turned their heads simultaneously, slowly towards me, with wicked grins and luminous yellow eyes.

I stood up and my chair falling beneath me. Hands reached for me, talons slipping through the material of my camp shirt. I backed up against

the door, knees buckling. My hands shaking as they slipped around the door handle, unable to gain a grip. They came in a wave towards me, like

zombies. Except faster, much, much faster. And like a wave, they drowned me in their numbers, enveloping me as I screamed and pleaded at the

top of my lungs.

I woke up screaming, Jason's hands clenched tightly on my forearms. I struggled to sit up, panting, trying to catch my breath.

"Gods Sawyer, are you okay? This is the second time today you've scared me half to death."

I looked at him grimly and calmed my ragged breathing. "And I'm about to scare you even more."

I told him of my nightmare, crossing my arms to keep my hands from shaking in the process.

"This is bad. This is really bad." Jason said shaking his head. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and began typing. "Alright, I just sent

everyone a text to meet us here and bring the essentials. It's not safe and we're getting out of here."

He walked over to his bed and pulled a backpack out from under the bottom bunk. "I've got water bottles and blankets in here. Is there anything

you need to put in this?"

I wracked my brain. I grasped my necklace; check. I twirled my ring on my right hand's middle finger; check. I stood up and raised a brow at

him. "I need to change."

Jason scrunched up his nose and turned the opposite direction. I stripped off my now dry green bikini, throwing on a camp T-shirt and jean

shorts over one of the cute pairs of matching bras and undies I'd bought with Leo. When I was finished, I slipped on my shoes, and as if on cue

someone knocked on the door.

"Howdy, neighbors." Percy grinned childishly and came inside holding two backpacks.

Annabeth trailed behind him. "Jason! What's going on?" She questioned, uneasiness in her eyes.

"Let's wait for everyone to get here," Jason said.

I was beginning to feel anxious as we arranged and sorted our packs. What if my dream was real? Then the eidolons would know I'd tell the

others and plan to escape...and they'd set up a trap of some sort. Leo, Hazel, Piper and Frank still weren't here... What if something happened to

them?

Okay, I seriously needed to stop thinking, I was freaking myself out with all this 'what if' talk.

There was another knock on the door and Percy, Jason and Annabeth fell silent. I rushed over and peeked the door open it to see Piper and

Hazel standing beside each other. Leo and Frank trailing behind them. The boys seemed to be bickering over something, strangely resembling an

old couple, until Frank noticed I'd opened the door and hit Leo's arm. They both went silent and grinned innocently at me.

I smiled and hoped I didn't look too worried. "Come in and join the party."

"So what's going on?" Leo asked as we gathered in a circle in the small cabin's entrance. "This is cutting into my beauty sleep."

Jason only shook his head at him, as if to say; "This is serious". I took a shaky breath and retold what I had dreamed for a second time. It was

almost as bad as retelling it the first time. Once I finished, there was silence.

Leo let out a low whistle. "Holy Hephaestus, that is rough."

"No kidding." I mumbled.

"We have to leave." Percy said grimly.

Leo scoffed. "Uh, yeah! They're after Sawy- all of us!" He shoved his hands in his pockets after his thumbs caught fire, pink in the face.

"But where do we go?" Frank asked.

"And what about the campers who don't have eidolons inside them? We can't just leave them!" Piper reasoned.

"She has a point." I chimed in.

Percy sighed. "Our best chance is hiding out in the woods."

Jason's mouth hung open as wide as a tangerine. "The woods?!"

"Percy's right." Annabeth spoke for the first time since arriving here. "We'll be safe there, and we can figure out how to get rid of the eidolons

and help the other campers."

"So we just get up and go? It's that simple?" Hazel asked.

"Whoa, whoa, time out." Leo made a 'T' with his hands. "Before we go anywhere, I have to go back to Cabin 9 and get stuff."

Piper raised a brow and it almost reached her purple headband. "Define 'stuff'."

"Tents" Leo grinned hugely. "Hunters of Artemis tents."

Jason gasped. "You stole some?"

"Nah, just one." Leo waved him off. "But I figured out the blueprints myself and made more. Baddabing, baddaboom, I now have five super cool

tents."

Of course, during a crisis, Leo could make us laugh with another one of his crazy shenanigans.

Percy chuckled. "You are one mischievous Mexican, my friend."

"You bet." Leo smiled crookedly. "So who wants to come with?" He asked meeting my gaze.

I smiled and raised my hand. "I'm in."

"Oh no, no, no." Jason said shaking his head vigorously. "You're going straight to the woods. I'll go with Leo."

I suppressed a sigh. It's like Jason thought I was six years old. Hello, fifteen! We were a year apart and he treated me like I just popped out of

my mom. "Fine. At least give me your bags so all you'll have to carry is the tents."

He handed me their backpacks and we shared a hard look. Eidolons, or no eidolons, we needed to have a nice long chat about this later.

"Riiight." Percy said, noticing our exchanged death stares. "We'll set up camp by the stream of the Capture the Flag area and we can move once

morning hits."

Percy 'bro-hugged' Jason and Leo as they left."Okay." Percy clapped. "Let's roll."


	6. Annabeth Kisses An Eleven Year Old

Luckily, we didn't run into any creatures or eidolon controlled campers in the monster infested forest that we were supposed to live in. We

easily found our base for camp, thanks to Percy. We couldn't set up without the tents so we anxiously awaited for Jason and Leo's arrival.

I sat on a large rock, nervously tapping my foot as Hazel and Annabeth arranged the supplies of the packs, and Frank and Percy practiced

their weaponry skills.

"Hey." Piper said as she dusted the ground next to me and my rock and sat down.

"Hey." I replied, eyes scanning the trees surrounding us.

"I'm nervous too." She sighed.

"Nervous? Who's nervous?" I defended. She placed her hand over my foot and I ceased my tapping. "Okay, I'm nervous." I admitted.

She soothingly rubbed my knee. "They'll be here soon, don't worry." Her words splashed a tidal wave of ease throughout my body, but I

quickly snapped out of it.

"It's just- ugh. Leo is going to get himself killed." I picked up a nearby stick and began absentmindedly drawing in the dirt.

"Leo?" Piper questioned. "What about your brother, Jason?" She said, emphasizing the word 'brother'.

"We had a fight." I said quietly. "But- Oh Gods- That doesn't mean I don't care whether he dies or not!"

She laughed quietly. "Don't worry so much, Sawyer. They'll be fine." Again a wave of calm crashed into me but I shook it off.

"What if the E.C.C's get them? Or some monster or something?" I began tapping my foot again.

Piper raised a brow. "E.C.C's?"

I my face went red with embarrassment and looked down. "Eidolon controlled campers."

"Hm." She appreciatively nodded her head, "Kinda has a good ring to it."

"I'm glad you like it!" I said in between giggles.

We stopped laughing and I silently prayed. "Zeus, please do one thing right and let them be okay."

Just then a sound came from the distance. it got louder as it got closer and I realized it was somebody screaming. Somebody screaming

very high-pitched. Maybe it was an escaped camper, or an E.C.C trap?

We all heard it and stood, drawing our weapons. I clenched my fist and my beautifully bronze, celestial that is, sword placed itself firmly in

my grip. I'd recently named it Katoapos, which meant curly in Greek. I'd thought it suited me perfectly, I mean hello, people don't call me Curly

Sue, Shirley Temple and Corkscrew for nothing! But now that I was facing a threat, the name didn't seem to make me feel ready for any battle.

A glow in the distance turned into a blazing light, and Leo came running towards us with his hands full of small boxes and hair ablaze

followed by Jason carrying a small person bridal-style. The two boys ran into the center of our small camp and we quickly guarded them,

weapons ready.

"What happened? Are you being followed?" Annabeth questioned harshly.

"Fire...Eidolons...Too much running." Leo said in between pants.

"No one followed us." Jason assured her, breathing hard.

"Who is that?" Frank asked, referring to the small body Jason was carrying.

Jason set him down and his familiar face was revealed. "Reggie." I breathed horrified.

"Leo get the tents set up. Reggie needs shelter and ambrosia." Annabeth instructed.

Leo huffed and got up from his exhausted fetal position on the ground. His hair had gone out, but sprinkles of ashes fell from his head as

he walked like a fairy. He went over the boxes and kneeled next to them, clicking buttons. Then he arranged the boxes in a circle around or

little camp, and the began popping up into tents.

Jason picked up Reggie again and carried him over to the closest tent. Inside each tent, two ground-level beds were made, tiny desks were

to the left and mini fridges were on the right. Wow, for a bunch of kids living in the woods, we were living pretty high-class.

Annabeth went to tend to Reggie as Jason emerged from the tent's entrance. "He inhaled a lot of smoke." He called to her.

"So what happened?" Percy questioned.

Jason sighed deeply and joined our circle of concerned demigods. "There were eidolon controlled campers in the Hephaestus cabin. They

tried to do anything to stop us, including shooting fireballs at us through some canon."

Leo popped up next to him suddenly and smiled smugly. "Built that baby myself. She works like a charm"

"Yeah, remind me to thank you for almost killing us."

"Hey, keyword ALMOST." Leo said wiggling his index finger.

"So they were all E.C.C's?" I intervened.

Everyone but Piper looked at me puzzled. "Eidolon controlled campers." I explained with red cheeks.

"Well that's better; less of a mouth full." Percy said nodding his head.

"Yeah,they were all E.C.C's. Except Reg." Leo said glumly. Percy patted him on the back.

"He'll be fine." Piper softly reassured him.

"So now what?" Hazel spoke.

Percy shrugged. "Annabeth will help Reggie. We'll take shifts in pairs standing watch. Jason and Leo, you guys mind going first?"

Jason sighed heavily. "Sure." Leo looked at him wide-eyed and hurt.

"Piper and Sawyer can go after. Then Frank and I, and then Hazel and Anna-"

"I KISSED A BLONDE!" We heard Reggie yell and then saw him running out of the tent to us. A fuming Annabeth stormed over too and he

hid behind Frank.

"YOU LITTLE-" Annabeth screeched.

"Big guy, help me out!" Reggie tugged Frank's sleeve.

"I was giving him CPR! That son of a-"

Percy gripped Annabeth's shoulder like she might take a flying leap at the kid. "It's fine, Annabeth."

She was literally fuming but didn't say anymore. "Leo, take your bro to a tent and tuck him in, or whatever. As long as he's asleep as soon

as possible." Percy instructed.

"On it. C'mon, Reg." Leo pulled the young boy along.

"Alright, everybody hop in a tent and get some rest." Percy dismissed us.

I trudged behind Piper and collapsed on one of the two mattresses. I cocooned myself in the fleecy comforter and drifted to sleep, hoping

that nightmares would leave me the heck alone.

I didn't have any nightmares (Thank the Gods), but I couldn't sleep even if my life depended on it. I tossed and turned, hoping I would

somehow fall asleep, but I had no such luck.

Next to me, Piper sat up on her mattress, reading in the candlelight. "Piper." I half groaned, half whispered.

She dog-tagged her page and closed the novel. "Hey, you doing okay?"

"Terrible." I rolled out of bed and walked my cocooned-self over to the mini fridge. "No nightmares luckily, I just can't sleep." I told her as I

guzzled an entire water bottle.

She shifted and sat cross legged facing me. "Yeah, me too. I think I'm just nervous."

"Yeah, that's probably it." I sighed.

She looked at me and worry filled her now green eyes. "Come on. Why don't we go sit with the boys? Have a laugh, cheer up a little."

I smiled at her concern. It's like her and Jason were my new parents. "Sure, let's go."

I bundled up my blanket to bring with me, but Piper stopped me at me the tent's doorway. "Don't make any noise." She whispered and

bent to crouch on the floor.

I was confused, but I knelt down next to her. She was looking out a small opening she'd made with the zipper at Jason and Leo. Jason's

back was to us , but we could plainly see a frigid Leo.

"Piper!" I yell-whispered. "Eavesdropping is-"

"Shhhh!" She waved a hand. "I wanna hear."

I huffed but went quiet. The boys were on opposite sides of a small fire. They seemed to be arguing.

"...know why you're mad! What did I do?" Leo questioned.

Jason sighed heavily. "Leo, can we not do this. I-"

"No! If you're mad, spit it out man." Leo stubbornly interrupted.

"No, Leo-"

"Jason, I swear to all the Gods if you don't tell me-" Leo interrupted more angrily.

"FINE." Jason answered loudly and sternly, throwing up his arms. "All you do is hit on my sisters! First Thalia, now Sawyer."

I gasped and turned the shade of a stop sign. Piper turned to me and giggled.

"Oh. My. Gods." She whispered in astonishment.

It was my turn to shush her.

"Dude, Thalia was just hot, but Sawyer-" Leo tried to explain.

"No, Leo. When are you going to learn you can't just hit on every girl?" Jason sighed. "Look, man, you're my best friend, but you can't do

this anymore."

"Jason, you don't understand. Hear me out." Leo pleaded.

Jason didn't make a noise, so Leo continued. "At first, yeah, I was doing what I always do, hitting on a hot girl. But I've actually gotten to

know her, and she's a sweeter, funnier, prettier Thalia. And I really like her, man. I really do." Leo's eyes were wide and tear-brimmed.

Jason stood, towering over the flames and Leo. "Thalia's already been taken away from me. You're not taking Sawyer."

He turned and walked away, leaving Leo silent with an expression of pure sorrow that looked strange and sad on his usually grinning face.

The shadows of the fire danced across his face, illuminating a single tear on his left cheek.

Piper and I crawled back into the tent and jumped on our mattresses. A few seconds later, Jason unzipped the tent and walked over to my

still body. He squatted down next to my head and even with my eyes closed, I knew what his expression was. He sighed and rubbed my

shoulder to wake me. I fluttered my eyelids open and got up.

I placed my hand on his bicep. "Get some rest." I said stiffly, not meeting his gaze and walked over to wake up an awake Piper.

I nudged her shoulder. "Let's get out of here." I muttered.

She rose, grabbed her dagger and left the tent, both of us silent towards Jason.

As soon as I was out the door, I dashed to the fire pit. Leo was gone. I spun around and saw his slouched back as he walked away to his

tent.

"Leo!" I called and ran over to him.

He flinched when I called and reluctantly turned around. "Uh, hey." His kindle wood brown eyes were red and worry lines covered his

forehead. He began furiously wiping away his tears.

"Oh Gods, Leo." I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and buried my head in his chest. "I heard it. I heard it all."

Finally, he reacted and embraced me back, hiding his face in my hair. After a minute, I pulled away, but he grabbed and held onto my hand.

"Sawyer, I-"

I heard a whoosh and looked next to me. I almost jumped five feet in the air because a large black circle was floating two feet above the

ground right beside me.

I neared the orb. "What in the-?" A figure flew out of the black sphere and onto me, sending us both to the ground.

I rolled the unconscious person off of me and looked over to discover their identity. It was a boy, about my age, who had dark black hair,

paled olive skin and purple bags under his eyes.

Next to me Leo gasped. "Nico?"


	7. I Fall On My Butt Several Times

We already had enough testosterone-filled teenage boys at this refugee camp, we

really didn't need another. Poor Nico had stumbled upon our hideaway, and if he did it

purposely he was about as sane as the Mad-hatter.

When he had dropped by (pun intended) he was unconscious and Leo and I quickly

carried him over to the medical tent where Reggie had been earlier. We set him down on the

tent's only bunk and I kneeled down and immediately began tending to him. The bunk was

merely a meter above the ground so I was perfect height while kneeling to reach him.

"Leo, grab a cloth, wet it and bring it back to me." I instructed. Back in Ontario, my

mom was a nurse. She'd taught me a thing or two about helping people out, but were

demigods the same?

Leo ran there and back, leaving a trail of water droplets along the ground. He handed

me the damp fabric. I brushed back Nico's dark hair from his forehead and placed down the

cloth. His stiff face eased in comfort and he breathed deeply. I took a big huff of breath to

help calm my nerves and looked down at the resting boy.

"Leo, can you get some ambrosia please?" I asked.

He rested a hand on my shoulder momentarily. "Sure." Then he took off in search of

the godly food.

I carefully sat Nico up, and, as delicately as possible, I took off his aviators jacket. He

sighed deeply as he layed back down. Who was this guy? Where did he come from? Why did

he seem so...dark?

Leo returned in a matter of minutes with the ambrosia. I stood, took the baggie from

him and smiled exhaustingly at him.

He chuckled. "You got this, Sawyer. You've got some mad doctor skills going on! He'll

be fine." The son of Hephaestus assured me.

"Keep you fingers crossed, Leo." I replied.

I turned, pulled out a chunk and knelt back down next to Nico. "Nico," I cooed.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey." I gently tapped his cheek.

Behind me Leo shuffled awkwardly. "Uh, I'll go get Annabeth or something." He said

before leaving the tent.

I was too distracted by Nico's eyelids beginning to flutter to answer Leo. His eyes

opened in tiny slits and dark, bistre brown irises looked into my greys. He sat up on his

forearms and rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand. "What's...Where am I? Who are you?"

He began to wake fully. "Who are you?" He repeated louder.

"Here," I held out some ambrosia. "You eat, I'll talk."

He looked at me curiously, studying me, but not as thoroughly as Annabeth. He

looked at the ambrosia and gave in, taking the chunk from my palm and nibbling on it.

"Your turn." He said.

I folded my hands on my cross-legged legs. "My name's Sawyer and I'm a daughter of

Zeus." I expected a big reaction from Nico like everyone else had given when I'd revealed my

godly parent, but his expression didn't change from his already studious face. "I got to Camp

Half-Blood about three or four days ago by falling down a big hill. Everyone freaked out after I

told them I was the kid of the big lightening guy, but eventually got over it. But, with my luck,

we discovered eidolons were hiding in the camp and things were back to being bad. So we;

Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper and I, escaped today- yesterday? Uh, do you

have the time?"

His dark eyes glanced behind my shoulder. "Quarter to four a.m."

"Right." I continued. "We escaped last night. I thought we were good to go until some

random guy fell on me. Thanks for that, by the way. And here we are."

Nico blinked. "You sure talk fast, and a lot."

I blushed. "Well, what's your story then?"

"I'm the son of Hades." He gazed at me, searching for a reaction of some sort, but I

kept my eyes wide and innocent. Hades? That was actually cool! I mean, he was better than

my pop. Anyone was.

He decided to continue. "I came looking for Percy after, uh, a friend told me about

some eidolons escaping the Fields of Punishment. Unfortunately, shadow-travelling takes all

my energy, which is why I fell on you."

I creased my brows. "Maybe next time you should just take the bus."

He tilted his head and regarded me, the corners of his mouth turning up. "Maybe."

"Well," I shifted so I was sitting on my knees, "your friend was right. Some head-

honcho eidolon named, uh, I think it was pie or something..."

"Kake." Nico suggested with a sour expression. I guessed he didn't like him much.

Neither did I.

"Oh yeah, him! Right, well, he took over Chiron and his buds took over quite a few

campers. We found out when I had a dream about them." I explained all the horrific details of

my dream to the son of Hades who seemed to only have the same expression plastered on

his face the entire conversation. "So we escaped, but Leo and Jason were attacked when they

went to grab supplies."

Nico knit his brows together. "What's wrong with Leo and Jason?"

My face reddened. "W-what?"

"Your eyes looked sad when you said their names. Is something wrong?" He leaned

closer to me.

I sighed but my cheeks remained coloured. My eyes had looked sad? Who notices

that kind of stuff? "They were arguing before you got here. Jason's my brother, and Leo... I

just don't like when two people who knowingly care for each other fight."

His expression softened slightly. "I understand."

We both looked up when we heard foot steps outside and the unzipping of the tent.

Annabeth walked in and raised a thin, blonde eyebrow. "Hey."

Nico and I noticed how close we were and we leaned back, my cheeks the colour of

strawberry jam. I stood up from my crouched position and began to leave.

"Hey, Sawyer!" Nico called. I turned to face him. "Sorry for falling on you." He smirked

and his dark eyes shimmered.

I spun around, trying to hide the idiotic smile from him, but I was sure he saw. I

exited the tent, probably resembling a clown with my goofy grin and red complexion.

"Hey, woah!" Percy exclaimed as we collided.

I tripped over his feet, grotesque compared to my size fives, and landed on my

behind. I looked up at him, grinned sheepishly and blew a stray curl out of my vision. "Sorry, ]

Percy."

He held out and hand and I took it in my grasp. "S'all good. How's Nico doing?"

"He's fine, pretty ominous, but overall fine." I answered as he helped me up.

"Yeah, I understand. One minute he's all doom and gloom, and then he's normal the

next. Strange kid, but he grows on you." He smiled and flashed his pearly whites.

I pursed my lips and replied sarcastically: "I'm sure. Have you seen my brother

dearest by any chance?"

Percy chuckled. "Yeah, Jason's just grabbing Frank and Hazel from their tents."

I made a gun with my hand and pointed at the son of Poseidon. "Thanks man!" I

winked before walking off.

"Hey, wait!" Percy gripped my shoulder and pointed a thumb over his shoulder.

"Their tents are that way."

"Oh I know," I replied lightly, "I'm avoiding good old Jason at the moment."

He shook his head and smiled crookedly at me. "You're a weird one Sawyer."

"Thanks Percy, thanks." I laughed then walked back to my tent.

I neared the entrance and tripped on a twig, but caught myself before I fell. I really

needed to watch where I was going, this tripping habit wasn't something I wanted to get used

to.


	8. Nico Lightens Everybody's Day

My sleep last night was surprisingly good. I slept dreamlessly and, according to

Piper,like a baby. I'd woke to the sounds of laughter outside and sunlight coming in from

the tent's side warming my exposed cheek. I stiffly walked over to the mini-fridge and

grabbed a water bottle, while Piper slipped on her sneakers. I twisted the cap off and

took a long, much needed gulp.

I sighed in relief. "Let's get some grub."

"After you." Piper offered.

"Don't mind if I do." I said as I unzipped and exited the tent. The sun shone

brightly, warming and enlightening our depressing camp site. Everyone sat around the now

burnt out bonfire, making conversation while Leo appeared to be building a small grill out

of twigs and things from his tool belt. I looked at each one of my friends' faces, but

grimaced once I saw Jason. I was so not in the mood to deal with him, especially so early

in the morning.

"Morning, ladies!" Percy waved us over.

"Hey gang." I said as I seated myself between Percy and Hazel.

Frank chuckled. "A Scooby Doo quote, not bad Sawyer, not bad."

I laughed while Hazel looked at us confused. "What's a 'Scooby Doo'?"

"I'll tell you what, Hazel." I said and took her hand in mine. "It's the best damn

show I've ever watched, and it'll be the best show you've ever watched once I show it to

you." She smiled and nodded her head.

On our left we heard a series of 'whoop's coming from Leo. "Ladies, gentlemen and

Frank!"

"Hey!" Frank scoffed.

"I have constructed...wait for it...a barbecue!" Leo grinned from ear to ear. We all

clapped overenthousiastically while Percy let out a loud, high-pitched; "Scooby Dooby

Doo!"

"But, what are we going to cook on it? We have zero food." Piper questioned.

Leo smirked. "Don't worry, Beauty Queen, I found us some chow in the woods."

Piper grimaced slightly, but didn't reply. None of us wanted to know what crazy

concoction Leo would be feeding us.

"'Sup guys?" Reggie said before stretching and walking over to us from his tent. He

took a look around, met eyes with me and grinned devilishly. The mini-Leo strutted over

and plopped down next to me on the log I was sitting on. "Hey tuts, how was your night? I

know you must've been really worried about me, but I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle." He

winked.

"Yeah." I said sarcastically. "Real worried."

I turned and made conversation with Hazel until we all heard Leo exclaim; "I'm

done!" He pulled slabs of metal from his tool belt to use as plates and placed a portion

of grayish scrambled eggs on nine of them.

The Spaniard stuck his tongue out in concentration, trying not to drop anything,

while we lined up to receive our meals. He smirked at me when it was my turn to approach

him. "Morning, Ms. Bureta."

"Good morning, Mr. Valdez." I responded while grinning.

"Care for some eggs?" He winked.

"Don't mind if I do." I flirted. Leo looked over my shoulder and his eyes went wide,

causing him to nervously and quickly scoop eggs onto my plate with a frightened

expression.

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, I'll take some eggs to Nico, so could you grab me another

plate please?"

Leo looked as if he badly wanted to protest, but he looked over my shoulder again,

sighed and scooped more food onto another slab and handed it to me. I took the plate and

turned around right into none other than Jason. I heaved a sigh. I should've known it was

him making Leo act so strangely; he was still on Sawyer-and-Leo-monitor-mode. I made sure

to bump shoulders with him as I walked to Nico's tent.

I entered the tent and almost dropped the eggs. A half naked Nico stood before me and

my face went deep scarlet. I cleared my throat and Nico looked up from his stance at the

foot of the small bunk. He slipped the black t-shirt in his hands over his head and ran

his hair through his fingers. "Oh, hey, Sawyer." He said casually.

I took a shaky breath and walked over to him. "I brought you some breakfast."

He glanced at the plate and the left corner of his mouth twitched up. "Thank you very

much."

"You're very welcome." I said and walked over to his bunk and sat down on the

mattress. "So, how was your night?"

The son of Hades chuckled and sat down closely to me that our sides were almost

touching."I was exhausted, so I'd say I slept like a baby."

I smiled to myself at our similarity and looked over at him. However, I hadn't

realized how much taller than me he was and slumped my shoulders. "How old are you, Nico?"

I asked.

He looked at his hands folded on his lap. "Fourteen."

My eyes widened. "Only fourteen?! You look older." He shrugged, still looking at his

hands gloomily. "And you have the personality of an old man." I added, resulting in a

smile from him.

"At least I don't have the mind of a nine year old." Nico smirked.

I scoffed. "I so do not have the mind of a nine year old!"

"Even Reggie is more mature than you. That's pathetic." He mockingly 'tsk'ed and

bumped his shoulder with mine.

I laughed and bumped him back. "How old do I look then? Hopefully older than nine."

Nico looked back down at his hands and his pale cheeks faintly turned pink. "You look

perfect."

My heart fell into my stomach and I gasped. "Thank you." I mumbled.

Both of us sat quietly, filled with embarrassment. I peeked over at him through my

lashes and he looked uncomfortable. I stood and held a hand out. "We should probably join

the others- unless you just want to stay here and rest some more?"

Nico took my hand and stood, now towering over me. "I guess I should come out of my

cave eventually. Let's go." He gestured for me to leave first and I exited the tent,

disregarding the most likely disgusting tasting eggs Leo had made.

Everybody looked up from their conversations as we approached, smiling in happiness

that Nico was up and running again.

Hazel greeted Nico with a hug and pulled him down next to her on a log. I walked over

to sit next to Leo who was on the end of the opposite log. Jason stared at me with narrow

eyes and a frown. Leo slumped down his shoulders but I sat proudly and slid closer to him.

"Nico, I'm glad you're feeling better, I was so worried!" Hazel exclaimed happily and

clutched his forearm, interrupting our silent death match.

Nico's mouth formed a small smile at his sister. "I was just tired, nothing a little

ambrosia couldn't fix."

"Sorry to go all doom and gloom on you guys," Percy said, "but Nico, you need to tell

us everything you know about Kake."

Beside me, Leo muttered: "I still can't believe that we're fighting a dessert."

I covered my mouth but a giggle escaped. I looked over at Leo and he smiled crookedly

at me. His eyes seemed to say "Screw you, Jason. I'll do what I want". And I agreed

completely.

"Well," Nico started, "Kake is one of the most powerful eidolons in the Underworld.

He's basically their king. Recently, they were being extremely quiet compared to their

usually miserable, moaning selves, so I went to investigate. When I got to their section

of the Field's, it was empty. I don't know how they escaped, but they did. So I came as

quickly as possible, but not quickly enough apparently."

"Yeah, they've taken over the entire camp." Percy said glumly.

Nico sighed. "Well, shit."


	9. I Strike Myself Lightening

After hours of strategizing, Reggie hitting on me and Leo serving us food that tasted like mud, we finally decided on a plan.

Annabeth thought it would be best if we divided into three groups. Two groups would infiltrate the camp, one as a distraction and one as the

rescuers, while the third group would stay behind with Reggie.

Annabeth, Jason, and Piper were the rescuing group while Nico and Leo were to stay behind with Reggie. I was in the distraction group

with Percy, Hazel and Frank because Annabeth referred to us as the 'big guns'. I wasn't sure about it, though. I'd never actually tried to use

my powers, purposely anyways. What if I couldn't conjure up any fancy-shmancy lightening on command like Jason? Or do something as

simple as making a rain drop fall from a storm cloud?

"We leave in five." Annabeth stated, interrupting my panicked thoughts.

I sighed but complied and went to my tent to grab Katoapos, my celestial bronze sword disguised as a ring. I slipped it on the middle finger

of my right hand and twisted it nervously. My left hand reached up and grabbed the lightening bolt dangling from the chain around my neck. I

took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and moments later there was a noise outside my tents' entrance.

"Knock, knock." I heard Leo's voice through the thin layer of tent.

"You may enter." I smiled.

He unzipped the door and stepped inside. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself." I replied, still nervous about the plan.

He stepped closer to me so that we were now only a few feet apart. "I know you're nervous, but you shouldn't be. We've got this in the

bag! It's one of Annabeth's plans; it'll be a piece of cake- no pun intended."

I bit my lip and grasped my necklace's pendant. "Hopefully."

"That's really pretty- your necklace." Leo complimented.

I looked down at the silver bolt in my hand. "My dad gave it to my mom, and she gave it to me. I wear it for her, not for him."

Leo pursed his lips. "You really don't like your dad, do you?"

I huffed and sat down on my mattress. "Gods no. He's a terrible bully who doesn't care for me. Not that I care for him."

Leo sat down next to me while glancing nervously up at the ceiling. "Maybe all you guys need is a little Dr. Phil to make things better."

I snorted. "I doubt he would be any helpful." I crossed my arms across my chest, "There's no use anyways; I'll never forgive him."

Leo's eyes widened. "Ever?"

My mouth set in a straight line. "Ever."

Leo let out a low whistle. "I gotta say, that's pretty sucktastic."

I put my head in my hands and groaned. "This day is pretty sucktastic."

I heard Leo snap his fingers. "I know!" I peeked between my fingers and saw him rummaging through his tool belt. He pulled out

something and kept it in his fist while he unhooked my necklace off of my neck.

I turned my back to him so he could hook it back on, and when he did it felt slightly heavier than normal. He had looped the silver chain

through the center of a bronze, metal nut the size of my thumb nail next to my lightening bolt.

I turned to face him again and his cheeks were pink. "It's for good luck."

I didn't know what to say, so I leaned forwards and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, that was very nice of you." I said, blood rushing to my own

cheeks.

We heard Annabeth instructing and lots of commotion coming from outside the tent. I stood, and so did Leo. Before I was able to exit the

tent, Leo's hand grabbed my forearm and spun me around to wrap his arms around my shoulders. I responded instantly, wrapping my arms

around his torso and squeezing my eyes shut. I took a deep breath, inhaling his intoxicating firewood smell and released him. I smiled at him

reassuringly, but once I faced forwards, my face was a mask of fear.

"Sawyer, good! I've been looking for you." Percy said, "C'mon, we're leaving now."

I looked over at Leo and smiled halfheartedly before joining the group huddled around Annabeth.

"Alright, my group will go West and sneak into the camp behind the back Cabin's. Percy, take your group East and enter through the lake

into the center of the camp to bring attention to yourselves through the element of surprise." Annabeth had gone into full out battle mode,

and, frankly, it was kind of cool in a totally scary way. "Nico, Leo, you guys stay here with Reggie and try not to get into trouble." Her grey

eyes narrowed as she looked at a sheepishly grinning Reggie.

I looked over at Leo who was fidgeting with his tool belt's buckle, then my eyes shifted to Nico who met my gaze instantly. He smiled

slightly, only the corners of his mouth going up. My smile was very hollow in return.

I looked around at my friends. Each face was expressionless, and grim. My heart was pounding erratically and my breathing resembled

panting. I was afraid not only for myself, but for all of them as well.

I looked over at Jason, wanting so badly to hug him and forget our stupid little spats we'd had over the last few days. My glance slid left

over to Piper, I wanted to thank her over and over again for being so kind and for looking out for me. My eyes darted to every person around

me, my heart wanted to thank and hug everyone- even Frank who I barely knew and had accidentally tried to drown me.

Hazel nudged me with her elbow. "Sawyer, are you okay?" Her big golden eyes were so innocent, and her expression concerned. I wasn't

okay; nervousness was consuming me by the second.

I began to feel tears welling in my eyes, thinking of the possibility that I might not see some of these faces after today. I felt heat flashes

all over my body; starting in my chest and slowly moving to the palms of my hand until my whole body felt like it was on fire. My breath hitched

in my throat, my eyes squeezed shut and I heard an ear splitting pop along with the startled screams of the others around me.

I opened my eyes to see all of my friends blown back fifteen feet and on their backs. The strong smell of ozone filled my nostrils and I felt

stiff. I looked down and a ring of black ashes surrounded my feet.

"Did you just...strike yourself with lightening?" Percy said, sitting up and rubbing his head.

I lightly kicked ashes forwards in embarrassment. "Seems like I did, doesn't it?"

Everyone stood and collected themselves again. "On purpose?" Frank asked.

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. Was this guy for real? "Of course not!"

"Why, then?"Annabeth questioned.

Blood rushed to my cheeks and I looked at my feet. "I was just afraid and nervous over this plan. I was afraid I wouldn't see some of you

again." I grasped the bolt dangling from my neck out of habit and was relieved to feel Leo's metal nut hanging next to it.

"Awww!" Piper and Percy cooed. I looked up and around at my friends again; everyone was smiling. Slowly the other demigods came closer

until we were all inside a massive group hug- even Reggie! I closed my eyes and beamed, feeling everyone's warmth and love through the

embrace.

"Alright, alright. Enough with the lovey-dovey shit." Nico said from a few feet away from us all.

We broke apart, laughing at Nico and saying 'good luck' to each other. Nico wasn't talking to anyone; just looking anywhere but where

people were showing emotion. I smiled to myself and wrapped my arms around his torso (that was all I could reach- he was tall for his age!).

He smelled like Heaven which was weird since he was basically from Hell. He was stiff and hesitantly put his arms around me. I released him

and raised a brow. "See? It's not so bad, is it?"

Nico mumbled something that sounded like 'I guess' and looked away with coloured cheeks. I laughed quietly but stopped abruptly when I

turned and saw everyone, especially Percy and Hazel, looking at me with shocked expressions.

"But...Nico never touches anyone." Percy said with an astonished expression.

"Except me." Hazel said softly, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

I looked to my side and eagerly wanted to attention off of me. "Alright, well, let's get this show on the road." I said, clapping my hands

together.

Everybody mumbled agreements and we set off on our missions. I looked left and right at my posse; everyone wore an expression of pure

determination. And that was when I realized deep within me that I was a demigod and I could handle just about anything. I also realized that

I was more than ready to kick some serious ass. I smiled to myself and thought; bring it on, Kake.


End file.
